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Everything Comes Apart

Destructo—erm, Dodger–playing with an actual toy we bought him. Parrot philosophy includes the concept that everything comes apart. He’s good at dismantling all sorts of things we’d rather him not dismantle.

Lately his interest in how things sound when they hit the floor has escalated to how things sound when they shatter on the tiles. He broke this lovely tiny bowl made my our friend Glenn Scrivner a few weeks ago.

It’s really hard not to get angry with him when he does things like this, especially when it’s one of a kind. Making a big fuss only encourages more of the same behavior, though. Because the point is not only the sound, but the reaction he gets from us. “Ooh! A ruckus! Isn’t this so much more fun than ‘Modern Family’ reruns?”

The other night he pushed the salt mate to this vintage pepper shaker at least six inches across the counter to its demise. We had to go right out and clean it up, which we tried to do without much comment. But this was not a fun loss. Hydra had a set like this in his childhood kitchen. We spent a lot of time a couple of years ago hunting down first the pepper shaker and then the salt in different shops because as a set they are ridiculously overpriced.

It was a fun pursuit–which we will undertake again–but I don’t like that we removed a vintage thing from the world. Also, these wide mouthed shakers are wonderful for cooks. Lots of supply right there on the counter and easy to unscrew and dip a measuring spoon into.

We try to let him hang out in the kitchen by himself because he’s good 92% of the time. He plays in the wooden submarine playbox Hydra made for him, or looks out the window, or yeah, tries to get into the drawers and throw stuff out. So our drawers are tied up with bungee cords right now. Sigh.

And yes, he also broke a ROCK the other day! This is a slice of caliche I picked up in central Texas when we were there a couple of years ago. I like rocks, fossils, and inexpensive reminders of places I’ve been.

Then he does stuff like wake me up in the morning with “Hello? Hello?” Pause. “Sally? Wanna cuddle?” The joys of parrothood.

He turned 21 in March, but you hit the nail on the head with toddler. Experts say they have the reasoning ability of a three- to four-year-old and the temperament of a two-year-old. When he was in his actual toddler years, he was incredibly needy and would call my name over and over and over until I picked him up. Luckily, he likes to be independent now and doesn’t always have to be in the same room as the rest of his flock (Hydra and I) , but he gets into extra mischief that way!

He’s pretty shy with new people, but I hope you’ll meet him some day before too long.